The Puerto Rico Women’s Foundation and the Friends of Puerto Rico Initiative, invite you to join a virtual panel on the past, present, and future of reproductive justice in Puerto Rico on March 24 at 6:00pm EST. 

In 1937, the then governor of Puerto Rico, Blanton C. Winship, legalized sterilizations on the archipelago to respond to the “overpopulation problem”. By the 80s, Puerto Rico became the country with more sterilization cases in the world with 33% of the female population affected as a result of the forced sterilization procedures and other massive birth control experiments. Most of these women were from marginalized communities, poor, and afro-descendant.

Reproductive justice is the possibility to make informed decisions over your body and sexual health. The victims of the mass sterilizations were not directly obliged to the medical procedure, but they were purposely misinformed about it. After looking at the past, two panelists will present on current discussions on reproductive justice at the national level, and how that influences reproductive rights in Puerto Rico. They will answer questions like: What does our future look like if access to abortion is repealed or weakened? What impact will it have on public health, especially among low-income women?

SPEAKERS
Ana María García Filmmaker and Director of La Operación
La Operación is a documentary film that examined mass sterilization of the Puerto Rican women

Maritza Arrastia 
Former Director of the Committee to End Sterilization Abuse (CESA) which addressed the sterilization of Puerto Rican women in the Bronx in New York City during the 70s.

Fabiola Carrión
Director of Reproductive and Sexual Health
National Health Law Program

Alondra del Mar
Mesa de Aborto Libre, Puerto Rico

Maritza Arrastia Former Director of the Committee to End Sterilization Abuse (CESA) which addressed the sterilization of Puerto Rican women in the Bronx in New York City during the 70s.

Fabiola Carrión
Director of Reproductive and Sexual Health
National Health Law Program

Alondra del Mar
Mesa de Aborto Libre, Puerto Rico

Fabiola Carrión Director of Reproductive and Sexual Health
National Health Law Program

Alondra del Mar
Mesa de Aborto Libre, Puerto Rico

Alondra del Mar Mesa de Aborto Libre, Puerto Rico